Plans also stipulate that co-location opportunities should be maximized wherever
possible, and that “proposals for using marine areas should demonstrate the extent
to which they will co-exist with other existing or authorized activities and how this
will be achieved” (Government 2014, p. 106). Identifying opportunities for, and the
technical feasibility of, co-location becomes all the more important for supporting
decision-making (Christie et al. 2014; Hooper and Austen 2014).
6.4.1 Co-location as an Opportunity for Spatial Planning?
The co-location of offshore infrastructure and aquaculture has been a particular
focus of research (Buck et al. 2004; Lacroix and Pioch 2011; Wever et al. 2015),
with “infrastructure” typically referring to offshore wind energy facilities. During
the past ten years there has been growing interest among policy makers, scientists,
the aquaculture industry, and other stakeholders in implementing pilot studies to
demonstrate the feasibility of such co-location. In the southern North Sea and
German Bight, the potential co-location of offshore wind and aquaculture has
gained momentum due to the allocation of large areas for offshore wind, including
approximately 35% of the German EEZ of the North Sea, and the resulting loss of
space for other sectors, such as fisheries (Stelzenmüller et al. 2014).
Based on an extensive stakeholder consultation process, Wever et al. (2015)
identified future research needs to support implementation of the co-location concept. One of these needs was the development of site-selection criteria that include
environmental, economic, socioeconomic, and technological parameters. A recent
study by Benassai et al. (2014) used a GIS-MCE DSS to evaluate suitable areas for
the co-location of offshore wind and aquaculture at a large spatial scale, using only
environmental criteria. At a much finer resolution, Gimpel et al. (2015) assessed the
potential for coupling offshore aquaculture and wind farms in the German EEZ of
the North Sea based on environmental and infrastructure criteria. In the following
section we provide a brief summary of the methods, key criteria, and results of this
case study.
6.4.2 Case Study in the German Bight
In order to evaluate different spatial co-location scenarios for the coupling of offshore Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) systems and wind farms,
possible aquaculture candidates (seaweed, bivalves, fish and crustaceans) were
identified. Those have been selected accounting for their native occurrence in the
German North Sea, their resistance to hydrodynamic conditions in offshore environments as well as their economic potential for the EU market. The study area
comprised the German EEZ of the North Sea with a surface area of 28.539 km
2
(Fig. 6.1). A vector grid was superimposed to the study area with a grid size
138
V. Stelzenmüller et al.
possible, and that “proposals for using marine areas should demonstrate the extent
to which they will co-exist with other existing or authorized activities and how this
will be achieved” (Government 2014, p. 106). Identifying opportunities for, and the
technical feasibility of, co-location becomes all the more important for supporting
decision-making (Christie et al. 2014; Hooper and Austen 2014).
6.4.1 Co-location as an Opportunity for Spatial Planning?
The co-location of offshore infrastructure and aquaculture has been a particular
focus of research (Buck et al. 2004; Lacroix and Pioch 2011; Wever et al. 2015),
with “infrastructure” typically referring to offshore wind energy facilities. During
the past ten years there has been growing interest among policy makers, scientists,
the aquaculture industry, and other stakeholders in implementing pilot studies to
demonstrate the feasibility of such co-location. In the southern North Sea and
German Bight, the potential co-location of offshore wind and aquaculture has
gained momentum due to the allocation of large areas for offshore wind, including
approximately 35% of the German EEZ of the North Sea, and the resulting loss of
space for other sectors, such as fisheries (Stelzenmüller et al. 2014).
Based on an extensive stakeholder consultation process, Wever et al. (2015)
identified future research needs to support implementation of the co-location concept. One of these needs was the development of site-selection criteria that include
environmental, economic, socioeconomic, and technological parameters. A recent
study by Benassai et al. (2014) used a GIS-MCE DSS to evaluate suitable areas for
the co-location of offshore wind and aquaculture at a large spatial scale, using only
environmental criteria. At a much finer resolution, Gimpel et al. (2015) assessed the
potential for coupling offshore aquaculture and wind farms in the German EEZ of
the North Sea based on environmental and infrastructure criteria. In the following
section we provide a brief summary of the methods, key criteria, and results of this
case study.
6.4.2 Case Study in the German Bight
In order to evaluate different spatial co-location scenarios for the coupling of offshore Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) systems and wind farms,
possible aquaculture candidates (seaweed, bivalves, fish and crustaceans) were
identified. Those have been selected accounting for their native occurrence in the
German North Sea, their resistance to hydrodynamic conditions in offshore environments as well as their economic potential for the EU market. The study area
comprised the German EEZ of the North Sea with a surface area of 28.539 km
2
(Fig. 6.1). A vector grid was superimposed to the study area with a grid size
138
V. Stelzenmüller et al.